2014 National School Board Association Conference Trip Notes

Questeq recently attended the NSBA’s 74th Annual Conference that was held for the first time this year in New Orleans, LA. More than 5,000 school board leaders and administrators from across the country attended the three-day meeting from April 5-7, 2014. The Questeq team had fantastic conversations with school districts from all over the United States and Canada.

Almost 90% of NSBA conference attendees are school board members, superintendents, or district administration staff. The common issue faced by every district is a significant gap between the presence of technology and the technology department resources organized to support and proactively maintain the technology. Before beginning any technology innovation, schools need to have strong technology supports in place. Teachers need to know that they have help when technology fails, have resources when they are unsure how to use a tool, and can get recommendations about technology usage in the classroom. Technology tools are often purchased and abandoned in classrooms, not because they aren’t helpful for students, but because teachers do not have the time to troubleshoot software or set up peripherals. If a tool does not work the first time, teachers often become discouraged and decide that the new tool is not worth the trouble – particularly when their old way of doing things worked just fine!

Many of our conversations at NSBA centered on the proper staffing required to support schools based on their individual technology investments. Questeq’s tiered support structure in our Educational Technology Management service appears to be the exact answer that board members were looking for at NSBA. We continue to improve our outsourced technology model with greater cost control, technology innovation and flexibility to change our operations based on the curriculum and 21st century learning requirements.